3 Towns Perfect for Retirement Where the Monthly Cost of Living Is Over $10K

Kellan Jansen

Sat, Nov 2, 2024, 4:01 AM 3 min read

Many Americans dream of retiring in sleepy beach towns with beautiful year-round weather. But that can be difficult to actually achieve — often for financial reasons. For example, if you want to retire in one of the following beach towns, your cost of living could be higher than $10,000 per month, according to a recent GOBankingRates study. That’s significantly more than the U.S. average of about $4,000.

However, you may be able to cut that figure down by reducing one particular expense. Read on to learn how.

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1. Seal Beach, California

Median monthly living cost: $10,734

Seal Beach is an idyllic beach town in Orange County, California, with a population just under 25,000. The cost of living is high here because the average retiree has a monthly mortgage payment of $8,796. That means all other expenses average out to roughly $2,000 monthly.

You’ll find this to be a recurring theme. Most of these cities cost a lot to live in because of high mortgage payments. And rent isn’t exactly cheap either — the average apartment costs more than $2,500 in Seal Beach. But that’s a lot less than the median mortgage payment.

So there’s an easy solution if you want to retire in one of these areas but can’t afford the price tag: Consider renting instead of owning. It could be enough to make your budget work.

Learn More: 3 Reasons You Should Not Buy a House When You Retire

2. Sunny Isles Beach, Florida

Median monthly living cost: $10,020

Sunny Isles Beach could be a dream retirement destination if you’re interested in Florida. A short drive from both Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Sunny Isles offers beautiful year-round weather, world-class restaurants and great people.

Once again, the region’s median mortgage payment drives the high cost of living here. Residents pay a monthly average of $7,945. So if you’re interested in retiring in Sunny Isles, finding a more affordable apartment or condo could help you do it.

3. Walnut Creek, California

Median monthly living cost: $10,754

Walnut Creek is a Northern California city with a population just under 70,000. Located about 15 miles northeast of Oakland, Walnut Creek is within reasonable driving distance to each of the region’s major cities — Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose.

The city’s median mortgage payment is a whopping $8,551. However, you can save a lot of money by renting. Apartments in Walnut Creek cost an average of $2,595 per month.

Broadening Your Search Can Help

We all want to retire in a dream destination, but the costs can be prohibitive. If that’s where you find yourself, consider expanding your search.

For example, if you retire in Walnut Creek, your annual living costs would be $129,048 in total. But that figure drops down to just $85,494 if you choose Sacramento instead, which is just an hour away by car.

You may not be able to afford to retire in your dream beach town, but you could still be able to live close enough to enjoy the area.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed retirement towns across the United States to find the best cities for Americans with $2 million or more in savings. First GOBankingRates found retirement hot spots by finding cities with a population of at least 20,000 then by selecting the 100 highest percentage of residents ages 65 and over. For each of the 100 cities a number of factors were found including; total population, population ages 65 and over, total households and household median income all sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. The average single-family home value was sourced from Zillow Home Value Index from June 2024 and for each home value, the average mortgage can be calculated by assuming a 10% down payment and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data. The cost-of-living indexes were sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces and using the national average expenditure costs for retired residents as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average cost of expenditure can be calculated. The expenditure and mortgage costs can be used to find the total cost of living for each city. Assuming someone retires at 65 and lives to 80, the total cost of living for 15 years can be calculated. Using the Social Security Administration, the average Social Security Benefits can be calcualted. The total cost of living after Social Security benefits can be calculated for each year and for the entire 15 years. Cities with a 15-year cost of living over $2 million were removed for this study. The remaining cities were sorted to show the highest livability cities first, representing the best retirement cities to live in with $2 million in savings. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Aug. 13, 2024.

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